Engine and transmission grime

[tmadden2]

I've finally gotten around to cleaning the underside of the car. There was a ton of caked-on oily black grime on the entire underside of the engine and the transmission. It made changing the trans oil really unpleasant. As I was cleaning, stamped-in part numbers appeared as if by magic. It was so far up both sides of the transmission though, I couldn't figure out where it must have started coming from years ago. Every wrinkle and fin of the trans housing was caked in this stuff. Gritty bits were embedded into it. Most likely just bits of road gravel, but I started to have the thought that maybe this was some sort of old oil-based protective undercoating applied in the 80s. Everything is a lot shinier now, but is there anything I need to do to protect the trans and engine from the elements now that they're so much more exposed than they were before?

Thanks,

- Tim

[gsxrken]

Haha- “those aren’t leaks, honey- that’s protective undercoating!”
No, they didn’t come with a cosmoline or such coating. Porsche knew they would leak before corrosion could possibly get a chance to gain a foothold.

[Flat6pac]

The aluminum will stay shiny until more oil is applied
In the mid 80s the factory started applying cosmoline on the underside.
Bruce